The invention relates to a restaurant service management system. More particularly, the invention relates to a system that facilitates communication between restaurant patrons and service staff.
In most cases restaurant patrons are in agreement about how service should be. In particular, customers want good service and are willing to tip well, and service staff (servers or waiters) want to provide good service and earn good tips. Unfortunately, what often stands in the way of realizing this common goal is poor communication.
When a customer's need arises, there is no telling what task the server might be currently engaged in. Whatever legitimate task the server is engaged in—whether taking the order of another table, bringing food or drink, or preparing an order in the kitchen—it simply feels to the customer that the server is being inattentive. While the customer is seeking the attention of the service staff, the customer is distracted from the meal and conversation with his or her companions. The busier the restaurant, the more likely the customer is to feel neglected. Unfortunately, even in the busiest of circumstances, the customer's need can likely to be attended to, if that need could simply be communicated to the server.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,707 to Peters discloses a waitress call system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,488 to Carlman, Jr. et al discloses a restaurant service request communication system. U.S. Pat. No. 6,366,196 to Green et al. discloses a restaurant waiter paging system.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.